E3 2009: Hands-On Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage

Share.

The Tomato flies again.

By Rus McLaughlin

Even though it broke poor Cammie Dunaway's arm, we dig our snowboarding. And we dug the hell out of last year's Shaun White's Snowboarding: Road Trip. So don't be shocked that we also dug the hell out of our playtime with Ubisoft's Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage.

A loose story progresses your crew from last time, when you were just another lowly scrub stalking Le Shaun and looking to prove yourself. This time, you're a pro on tour, knocking down slopes and pipes across the world. Ubisoft wants to put the accent on a world-class boarding experience, where adulation from the crowd is as much a part of the experience as grabbing air. The finished game will take you down thirty slopes in eight venues ranging from Chile and Japan to France and Canada.

After a quick calibration, we stepped up on the Balance Board and headed right into the airport hub with our crew lounging in the waiting area, which clutters up fast with trophies you earn on the slopes. Selecting the arrival times board kicks you into the world map, then to your character selection screen to pick a rider and a cameraman to film your sickness. Each cameraman has their own shooting preferences - speed, air, rails, etc. - and gives you bumps on your respect meter when you perform to their specialty. When the respect maxes out, tap your control pad to turbo your Tomato.

Not that you get Shaun 24-7. Mr. White is only available for four preset special events... until you finish the game on top, unlocking him to join your crew.

We got to play three modes on three courses: a straight trick-speedrun, a half-pip set right in the middle of Times Square (because that's where you put a half-pipe), and the new Boardercross eight-man race down a twisty Nordic track. Straight off, carving the snow felt niiiiiiice. If you're a veteran of Shaun 1, surprises will be fairly slim where the trick list and balance controls are concerned (A and B give you some grabs), but the responsiveness has been upped and once you dial in, life is sweet.

Of the three, Boardercross was an easy favorite. Taking on seven other boarders in a downhill free-for-all? Yes, please. Since grabs aren't the priority, more race-appropriate functions are mapped to your buttons, and each carries a nicely steep risk/reward proposition. Holding B gave us a tighter lean for a tighter turn that cut right past the competition on more than one bend. We never did, of course, but it's entirely possible to biff it bad if you overdo it.

The graphics have going a nice overhaul as well. Times Square at night is gorgeous, and the world in general looks a bit more layered. Leaning forward on the board streamlines you for speed, and that speed is nicely conveyed through a number of effects both obvious and subtle. We could only pick them all out by watching, because we were way too busy while playing. Splashing covers your character in a thin layer of power - a nice touch - though it slowly fades when it could've had more of a melting effect. That, however, is every much as minor a quibble as it sounds. Shaun 2 looks fantastic.

Classic, overtake, and dropout races all return. Career progression depends on building up points for specific tricks like nailing six perfect landings, or grabbing air until your cameraman says it's okay to come down. Co-op drop-ins will be seamless this time around, with 4-player local matches but no online save for leaderboards, which makes us sad. Wiimote-only play also returns (multiplayer is exclusively Wiimote-only), but this is meant to be a Balance Board experience. So far it's a good one, though in terms of new modes, tricks and challenges, it might not move as far off the first game's path as we'd like.

Lead designer Antoine Guignard tells us that they're still toying with Wii MotionPlus functionality, but nothing's been implemented yet and considering their targeted Fall release, odds are they'll run out of time first. Our fingers are crossed that they pull something off there, but either way, we're looking forward to shredding this one again.